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Nobody blows smoke like Nick Naylor. He’s a spokesman for the Academy of Tobacco Studies–in other words, a flack for cigarette companies, paid to promote their product on talk and news shows. The problem? He’s so good at his job, so effortlessly unethical, that he’s become a target for both anti-tobacco terrorists and for the FBI. In a country where half the people want to outlaw pleasure and the other want to sell you a disease, what will become of the original Puff Daddy?
Christopher Buckley is a novelist and editor of Forbes FYI magazine. He lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife and two children and dog, Duck. In 1998, he was inducted into the Légion d'honneur by the president of the Republic of France for "extraordinary contributions to French culture," despite the fact that his French is barely sufficient to order a meal in a restaurant. He has been an adviser to every president since William Howard Taft, a remarkable achievement, since he was born in 1952.
sonia-lilani
Posted November 30, 2011
Nick Naylor, the protagonist in Thank You for Smoking, is the kind of character you love and hate; you don't like what he does, but you sympathize with him and want him to be happy. I always think the sign of a good writer is someone who can make an unlikeable character a likeable character at the same time. I would say this book is for a reader who is looking for an interesting, somewhat informative novel that focuses on the cigarette and tobacco industry, some of the lies they tell, and sales and marketing in general.
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Posted March 28, 2011
this book had me laughing every step of the way. it follows a tobbaco lobbyist doing the tasks given to him like lying to millons on larry king show or bribing a man dying of lung cancer from tobacco. it keeps you interested every step of the way
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Posted August 1, 2008
Not as awesomely mind-blowing as I expected it to be but very good. There was a typical 80s conspiracy novel/Disclosure style to it with the good-guy-and-his-woman-friend-he ¿gets-close-to-and/or-hooks-up-with-vs.-the-evil-boss-and-his-squeeze- who-tries-to- seduce-good-guy archetypes. His vocabulary was just right as far as mood and context. I really loved his word play and the sarcasm was awesome. The scene where tobacco lobbyist Nick Naylor finishes telling people, with a flourish, that tobacco is in no way harmful, then picks up his son for a movie marathon and lights up in the living room only to have his son admonish ¿Daaaaad¿¿ and he, defeated, goes on the terrace to smoke instead? Awesome. Totally caught the hypocrisy of the tobacco situation perfectly. Mind you I did think Nick was a bit of a dumb slut for reasons that will be clear if you read the book. My response was ¿Seriously, dude?¿ That was another aspect that reminded me of Disclosure a bit. I loved the way Nick kept referring to himself as a Nazi. I thought it was well-used and made Nick just sympathetic enough to be interesting. As much as reviewers said this ¿laughed at the sanctimony of their do-gooding opponents¿, I didn¿t really see it. I thought the novel more pointed toward extremity and established that everyone knows what the right answer really is with ¿sensitive issues¿ politics on the issues are a matter of fashion and neither side really has the right answer. I also loved the emphasis on selective ignorance the tobacco corporate heads bemoaning the fact that ¿now everyone wants to be so d**n healthy¿ and his insistence that they can continue to lie about tobacco products not being dangerous ¿it¿s just marketing!¿ and the risky likelihood of getting to the point where everyone¿s differing agenda makes them oblivious to the difference between the truth and lies.
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Posted December 4, 2007
This book is truly amazing. The writing style and smart, political humor is amazingly written! Nick Naylor is my idol, he truly represents everything that i ever want to become. He is such a perfect little backstabber! It Is a must read!!!!!
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Posted April 19, 2007
I'm a big fan of satire and sarcasm so Christopher Buckley was right up my alley. I'm also big on media studies so I really enjoyed reading about Nick Naylor and the blantant lies he tells regarding smoking. It's really embarassing that our society believes everything it's told... but hey, it made for a very entertaining novel. I liked the details about modern society (of couse meaning like 1995 when the book was published). I haven't seen the movie but I kind of feel like it couldn't top the book. Great book!
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Posted December 27, 2006
I have yet to see the movie, but this book is wonderfully entertaining. I loved every bit of it. It was funny, sassy, and just plain wonderful. I actually wanted Nick to come out on top.
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Posted October 23, 2006
I read Thank You For Smoking and I found it to be an entertaining novel with good amounts of black humor. The novel follows a lobbyist who's talent is talking and uses it to it's full potentional whenever possible. Buckley uses a mesh of black humor while at the same time writes a interesting story of backstabbing.
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Posted October 5, 2005
A romping, satirical and well-deserved indictment of the tobacco industry and its media spinsters, featuring a few real-life celebs in selected scenes to give it a nice touch of authencity. A must-read in any no-smoking lounge.
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Posted January 27, 2005
I certainly did laugh out loud quite a bit. In actuality, it was probaby too short and time could have been spent building on Nick's relationship with the MOD squad. The deft ability of the protagonist to make lemonade out of lemons coupled with irreverance make this a very good, quick read.
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Posted December 17, 2004
The story of this book is excellent, but in many sections of the book it becomes very slow(I even skipped pages sometimes!) Definitely worth buying!
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Posted March 6, 2001
the more you read the more you begin to think about how funny America is and how it really works.
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Posted August 8, 2000
Buckley does an excellent job using real-life dialogue. The characters are so hilariously stereo-typical that you'll probably bump into one of them today. The book is a laugh-out-loud read and makes you think twice about what you would do to pay the mortgage.
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Posted February 19, 2000
Every page contains a five minute fit of laughter.
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Posted October 25, 2008
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Posted July 22, 2010
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Posted December 5, 2010
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Posted November 29, 2011
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Posted October 17, 2010
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Overview
Nobody blows smoke like Nick Naylor. He’s a spokesman for the Academy of Tobacco Studies–in other words, a flack for cigarette companies, paid to promote their product on talk and news shows. The problem? He’s so good at his job, so effortlessly unethical, that he’s become a target for both anti-tobacco terrorists and for the FBI. In a country where half the people want to outlaw pleasure and the other want to sell you a disease, what will become of the original Puff Daddy?
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